The Hop Shop, located between Eynsford and Shoreham in the Darent Valley, has gradually evolved over the past 30 years to its award-winning status as Best Kent Farm Shop 2004. William and Caroline Alexander originally managed Castle Farm, where The Hop Shop is based, as a mixed family farm predominantly producing cereals, hops, apples and beef. In the early 80's however, the changing economic climate of agriculture meant that they had to substantially rethink their production and marketing strategy.

The first step was to change the apple orchards to pick-your-own, which over time has built up a loyal following of customers. The main crop is the Norfolk Royal, a spectacular, scarlet apple with a depth of flavour which you just won't find in fruit on the supermarket shelves. Part of the crop goes towards an exclusive bottled apple juice, which is pressed with Bramleys to balance the sweetness of the Norfolk Royals.

As Caroline explained, "At a local children's party I was pleased to see all the apple juice we had supplied disappear, whilst several bottles of Coke remained untouched."

Caroline then counteracted falling demand for hops for brewing in the late 80's by developing the sale of hop bines for decoration. She really pioneered the use of hops - the exuberant 10ft trails of twining stems and green hop flowers - as rustic decoration in pubs, homes, farm shops and wedding venues, extending demand throughout the country and abroad. One thing led to another and feedback from contacts within the floristry and interior-design industry highlighted the demand for dried flowers.

Caroline had little previous horticultural experience so really had her work cut out experimenting with different growing and drying techniques, but her enthusiasm and determination won through. This new venture grew rapidly, peaking in the '90's' with 5 consecutive Gold Medal winning exhibitions of dried flowers at the renowned Chelsea Flower Shows. The original farm shop in an old garage had, by this stage, been somewhat outgrown, so the couple bought a redundant timber-framed barn from a farm in Sussex and reassembled it in its current position at Castle Farm in 1996. This then enabled a retail expansion into a greater diversity of local foods and flower-related products.

With the demise of commercial hop production for brewing in 1999, William turned his attention to the production of essential oils and, along with rosemary and chamomile, nurtured three varieties of lavender over 65 acres, which create a stunning, colourful scene in front of the farm during the high-summer months. The crop is harvested by a specialist lavender harvesting machine, imported from France, and is distilled on the farm. Full use is made of this crop, resulting in a diverse range of products food and toiletry products in addition to its traditional decorative use as cut bunches or in lavender bags. In partnership with other small, specialist Kent food producers new products have been developed, such as apricot and lavender jam, cranberry and lavender chutney, cakes and hand-made lavender and honey soap.

Caroline eventually even managed to convince her sceptical ice-cream supplier to develop a lavender based ice-cream, which has gone on to become a real success amongst discerning customers. Opportunities from this side of the business are still to be reaped with the current development of further food and toiletry lines from the essential oils and a variety of tours and farm visits during the flowering season (mid June to late July) and a special Lavender Festival (this year on 9th and 10th July).

The range of other general and food products available in the shop is too numerous to list, but some of the most popular include Castle Farm's own beef, which is hung for three weeks to develop extra flavour and tenderness, and sold as succulent roasting joints, steaks or burgers or as part of a range of frozen meat pies. In addition an extensive selection of baskets, seasonal gifts, jams, chutneys, pasta sauces, juices, freshly made cakes and biscuits ensures there is something for all tastes.To make a longer visit to the area worthwhile there are several other visitor attractions within walking distance of The Hop Shop, including the open spaces of Lullingstone Country Park, the grounds of Lullingstone Castle and the remains of the nearby Roman Villa - all linked by the scenic Darent Valley long distance footpath.

The Hop Shop
Castle Farm
Shoreham
Sevenoaks
Kent, TN14 7UB

01959-523219

www.hopshop.co.uk

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